Himeno FC I
by Sikon
Summary: The establishment of Garderobe Academy, the original Five Columns, and their first adventures. Sequel to Mai HiME Ryou. Reviews are most welcome.
1. Prologue: City of Hope

**Prologue  
CITY OF HOPE**

In a certain remote corner of the universe, whose position in relation to its other parts is yet to be determined, there lies an almost unremarkable spiral galaxy, whose only known distinguishing feature is its ability to support intelligent life on suspiciously fine-tuned planets.

At least six planets in that galaxy are currently known to be inhabited by a protein-based lifeform — known as humans in their dominant language — that first evolved on Earth, or Aasu in the dead language of a much earlier nearly-extinct sapient species only known to the humans as the Precursors. This is the only other intelligent lifeform known by humans, and only the most enlightened of them.

The majority of the population, on the other hand, is largely unaware of the fact that the Precursors ever existed, much less that they (and later what remained of them) used to control the human civilization until about three centuries ago — or, more precisely, the year 2005 AD. Most of the current "secret technology" developed behind closed doors by the Searrs Foundation — an organization long dedicated to transforming the human society with the power of science — is reverse-engineered from Precursor designs, which were themselves used by their creators to research and exploit the humans' special affinity for a type of empowerments collectively known as Highly-Advanced Materialising Equipment, or HiME for short.

As noted, humans are largely unaware of the existence of other intelligent species, which sometimes causes them to loathe their own existence in a cold, inhospitable universe, where their entire history is a dismissable momentary disturbance. This causes them to fill the void with works of fiction where such other species are plentiful, and engaged in all kinds of interesting political relationships. This is, presumably, an extension of the natural belief that a lone existence is meaningless, and only when viewed in the context of a society does an existence become noteworthy.

The planet Earl, which we are going to specifically focus on, is perhaps forever doomed to isolated existence. Even the Precursors avoided it: when the planet was first accessed from Earth under the supervision of Matten Searrs and Miyu Greer, its address in what was eventually named the Bifröst system was recovered from a Precursor note (since translated):

_UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO 14.7.22.25.62.24.55.39._

The exact reason for this directive is not known. Almost exactly three centuries since the planet's discovery, during which it was extensively colonized, Earl's Bifröst node was severed, interrupting all contact with Earth and the rest of the human civilization — which was the beginning of a long chain of events eventually leading to the fall of the Searrs Foundation and the rise of its successor, the Garderobe Academy.

* * *

**Saturday  
November 5, 2332  
8:53 AM**

_Wind City Travel Guide_

A hand opened the book, and its index finger began following the text on the first page.

_"...a literal translation of 'Kazahana', the old Japanese name of this place. Note that the Windbloom Prefecture of Aries, and by extension its capital Wind City, would be almost completely unremarkable if not for the sheer number of conspiracy theories they evoke. What Area 51, Roswell and the Bermuda Triangle once were for Earth, Windbloom is for today's Earl, along with the very inaccurately named Black Valley on the Aries-Cardair border and Apex Mountain in Artai. Almost every theory about a secret world-controlling society is guaranteed to propose at least one of these three places as its possible headquarters..."_

"Ariesu. Hehe, so outdated," whispered the reader, flipping the page.

Said reader was a young woman in her early twenties, distinctly Japanese in appearance, with short black hair and a smooth round face typical for that particular ethnic group. A far cry from a supermodel, but definitely not ugly either. She was casually sitting on a couch, in the waiting area of what appeared to be a transport terminal, holding the travel guide book loosely — apparently scanning rather than reading. Her thick dark blue jacket was partially unzipped, revealing a featureless teal shirt below.

After noticing that other people in the hall began to stand up, she quickly stood up, packed the book in the bag she was carrying, took a document out of a pocket and went towards the exit in rapid steps, with the intent to slip into the unavoidable queue not too long after it would begin to form.

The passport inspector looked at the young woman's document with a vacant look and, after holding it for a second on a scanner, indifferently tossed it back.

_NATIONALITY / __国籍__: ZIPANG / __ジパング__  
FAMILY NAME / __姓__: IMŌTO / __妹__  
GIVEN NAME / __名__: HARU / __春__  
SEX / __性別__: FEMALE / __女__  
DATE OF BIRTH / __生年月日__: 2308-03-08 / __二千三百八年 三月 八日_

Without losing her careless disposition, Haru Imoto walked through the train station with inevitable "Welcome to Wind City" signs, and a big Aries coat of arms that was hastily and unprofessionally painted over.

She boarded the train standing idle on the station and, inside, upon reading a sign telling the fare (15 units), took out some money out of her wallet and handed it to the driver. This completely ordinary action, for some reason, attracted the attention of nearly everyone present, including the driver himself, who was left puzzled but accepted the money anyway.

"You actually _paid_ the fare?" asked a bearded man sitting next to Haru when she took her seat.

"Yesu, why?" she asked in turn. "I didonto see anywhere to pay outsido ze torain, so I assumedo..."

"When abroad, never assume," said the man. "Blend in, do what everyone does — although... you would never blend in with that accent. Still, in Windbloom, it's not customary to pay for public transportation. Most locals are too poor for that, they can hardly even afford necessities."

"Rearry?" Haru desperately, and unsuccessfully, tried to raise a single eyebrow without looking stupid. "Bato ifu we donto pay, how wirru zey affordo maintenansu ando repairsu?"

"Don't concern yourself too much, I'd say. Besides, the money is probably going to end up in wrong hands anyway. That's what I say to myself."

"You say zisu to yourserufu for conscienssu seiku, ne?" smiled Haru.

The man was somewhat embarassed. "On an unrelated note," he said, changing the topic, "what could possibly interest a Zipangian in this trash dump of a country? If you're looking for a job, you've come to the wrong place."

Haru reached into her bag, showing an envelope. "I'mu ruukingu for Ryoko Ragna, of the Woru Reriifu Coorudination. Do you know where I couldo findo her?"

* * *

The Memorial Plaza Complex had seen better days. Of the twin towers that once were renowned architectural features of Wind City, one was completely leveled to the ground during an Artai attack a year ago, and the other one was abandoned and in severe disrepair, seemingly in the danger of collapsing any day. The hole in the middle of the plaza was now surrounded by tape and "Keep Clear" signs, and patrolled by two guards.

Whatever activity went on in the complex was concentrated in a single three-story building, above whose entrance was crudely painted the name of the organization now residing there:

_WAR RELIEF COORDINATION_

One of the offices was occupied by Ryoko Ragna, whom some readers may already know for her role in a certain... interesting incident a year ago. Her appearance has changed a little since then: she cut her hair shorter, and she now wore a grey suit with a tie, with a badge on the chest reading simply "Administrator".

She was sitting behind a desk, typing something on her computer frustratedly. Finally, giving up, she picked up the phone on her desk and dialed a number.

"Support? What now?" Ryoko asked angrily. "Don't tell me it's power failure again."

"Unfortunately, it is," said the voice in the phone. "Team 2 reports that vandals have damaged a transformator booth on Higurashi Street. They should get it operational in an hour or so."

"Have the vandals been caught?" inquired Ryoko.

"I'm not in position to know this, really... But I don't think so, I mean, there's nobody who could."

Ryoko hung up, stood up and looked into the window, watching as snow fell on the dirty streets, slowly turning dirt into mud. "I should really get out more," she whispered, "or I'm risking to lose touch with reality."

The door to Ryoko's office opened, and Wataru Steingott, our familiar gentleman investigator, came in, smiling mysteriously and stroking a black cat with a white patch on its forehead.

"What..." began Ryoko, but Wataru interrupted her immediately.

"First," he spoke hastily, "the first four squads of our own police have been formed — I know it's a drop in a bucket, but we'll need everything we have, especially with Aries pulling out. There are more on the way. Second, I've finally received a definite yes from Fumi. We're getting married on Monday, so your Chief Domestic Something-or-Other will soon be Wataru Himeno, yesss... And third — "

"Wataru," Ryoko interrupted him in turn. "How on Earl did you come across Naomi's cat?"

"I was coming to that," said Wataru. "In our digs in that Searrs facility, we found another GEM. You can look, if you like." Holding the cat on one arm, he reached into a pocket and produced a tiny casing with the Searrs Foundation logo and an inscription in English and Japanese:

_海神の翠玉 __/ NEPTUNE EMERALD_

"You know what this discovery enables you to do, per the Treaty," continued Wataru.

"Yes, yes, my own Otome, since Fumi doesn't count," responded Ryoko, gently touching her ring with a white gemstone. "And I have a candidate in mind. But I wasn't asking about that."

"After we found the GEM, or rather, I did, alone, I concealed it and followed the way out. As I was passing by the Door, however, it suddenly activated from the other side..."

"What? Activated?"

"Yes, activated," confirmed Wataru. "We were right after all, it's a portal. Probably some undocumented side feature of Bifröst, for local transportation. After it activated, we saw the other side — and at this moment, the cat jumped through carrying this note." He handed Ryoko a piece of paper.

_"Ryoko, I forgive you. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, all you can do is spread the word before certain nations usurp control over the Otome toys. Be careful with them. Take care of Munya. Don't search for me or Miyu, or you will be killed. N.S. (sort of)"_

"Ah, so the cat is called Munya. I remember her mentioning that now, I just forgot. Wonder what she forgives me for, though..." Ryoko sat down again. "And your men didn't follow to the other side?" she asked.

"We tried to, but apparently travel is one-way," informed Wataru.

"Then it's dangerous," stated Ryoko. "Somebody could appear two steps away from our headquarters, and we wouldn't even know where they came from. We must get it working from this side and identify where it can lead. And if we find any threat to Windbloom's safety from any of those directions..."

She paused, opening the box labeled "Neptune Emerald" and taking two ornate green gemstones out of it.

"This time," she finished, "we _shall _do something about it."

_To be continued..._


	2. 1: The Forgotten Ones

_**Chapter 1  
THE FORGOTTEN ONES**_

Away from Windbloom, and away from the remaining inhabited portion of the planet, lay the vast Kainashi Desert -- of interest only to geographists, and only for the purpose of putting it onto the world map and saying, "Okay, it exists, now leave us alone." Conveniently, it also escaped the nuclear bombings that wiped out eighty percent of Earl's population in the recent years, simply because there was no population in the desert to speak of.

Unknown to most, however, it was not completely desolate. In the middle of this barren land, a circle of rocks and a perpetual fog hid a sizable portion of land from the eyes of travelers who might cross the desert (mostly as a way of self-assertion), as well as from aerial photography. Public opinions on what was going on "in the grey", as usual, varied widely, from "nothing but more wasteland" to "secret government facility dealing with aliens" — yet nobody really cared about this region enough to land there and explore it.

The truth was somewhere in the middle between the two extreme opinions. The Searrs Foundation, back when it existed, referred to this place as Alyssa's Retreat — named so since this whas where Alyssa Searrs spent her vacations after the Foundation discovered the portal between Earth and Earl, back in 2006.

It was a small, hidden green paradise, with lush forests, meadows and lakes, largely untouched by civilization -- except for the presence of a neat brick house at the edge of a forest and gazebos scattered throughout the land.

**Saturday  
November 5, 2332  
2:00 PM**

"Mikoto!"

The house's front door opened, and Miyu, the enduring robot aide of the Searrs family, walked down the steps and onto the grass.

_Where did that disgrace to her species run again?_

"Mikoto!" Miyu shouted again, raising the volume of her voice to levels that could likely result in ear damage for any human nearby — yet not visibly moving at all, apart from her lips. "Mikoto, come home!"

_Useless._

Miyu walked to the dining table, standing right there in the open, sat down on one of the chairs, and put her arms onto the table.

_Admittedly, attempting to recover her by force is equally useless._

She put one of her legs on another, assuming a more comfortable position on the chair, but almost immediately returned to the original pose of sitting straight.

_This is irrational waste of energy. I do not need to imitate human behavior when there is nobody present._

She looked blankly into space for a while without moving, without even blinking. About an hour passed before a sound coming from the sky caught her attention — faint, but rapidly getting louder.

Miyu stood up. The source of the sound soon became clear: it was an Otome, in the all-too-well-known blue-and-white Robe, carrying a large metal box somewhat resembling a coffin by its proportions. The Otome flew towards the house and stepped onto the ground just in front of Miyu, put the container down, and then unsummoned her Robe.

_N.S DISCONNECTED A.S  
ROBE.BLUE SKY SAPPHIRE DISENGAGED_

Yes, it was Naomi Searrs — though not as we had seen her so far. She had become taller and more flat-chested, and her face was no longer as round, and more elongated and less overall perfect. Her hair was shorter yet more dishevelled, and her exposed skin — quite a lot, actually — showed visible scars, burns, and signs of tampering.

"Oh, hello, Miyu," she said. "I guess the girl isn't home?"

"No, Miss. I was just going to seek her in the wilderness when you appeared. How fared your mission in Artai?"

"I recovered only four GEMs out of those five," Naomi reported. "The Rising Sun Orpiment was likely taken, I clearly remember that it was in Niflheim at the time of the... accident. And if it _was_ stolen..."

"...then the consequences can be disastrous," finished Miyu.

"Indeed. Artai doesn't tick me as the kind of country to use Otome wisely. Hopefully they don't have the nanomachines, and without the HQ teleporter, we can't— But enough of this. I brought something of interest to you, Miyu," Naomi pointed at the box, "care to look inside?"

"Certainly," said Miyu. She transformed her arm into a chainsaw and carefully sawed the cover off. Naomi kicked it away... and quickly stepped back. Inside was a badly-decayed skeleton, rather small, probably of a child of about ten years old. A purple round amulet on a chain was wrapped around its neck.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naomi asked sarcastically.

"Stay away from it, Miss," warned the android. "I shall retrieve it. I presume you are familiar with this device?"

"Why, all too well," said Naomi. "Believe me, the _last_ thing I want is to be possessed by some Precursor with delusions of grandeur. What makes you think it won't harm _you, _though?"

"The Precursors based all their mind transfer technology on human physiology," explained Miyu. "Ever since they evolved to this state, they have always been using human hosts. Therefore, it is a reasonable conjecture that a chance of it successfully interfacing with an AI such as me is essentially zero. However—"

"However, please identify the bones first," Naomi interrupted, speaking from a distance as she dragged one of the chairs standing around closer to the improvised coffin. "Awakening monsters of the old can wait."

Miyu touched the skull lightly... and instantly jerked the arm back, looking at Naomi with a horrified expression on her face. This, in turn, concerned Naomi enough to miss the chair and sit down on the grass.

"Ow!" exclaimed Naomi. "So who is that?" she continued, standing up and rubbing dirt off her dress. "Someone you don't exactly remember fondly, I guess."

"In a sense, Miss, this is me," said Miyu in a slightly troubled tone. "The original Miyu, biological daughter of Joseph Greer, whose identity I assumed."

"Yes, I remember, you told me about that... accident," recalled Naomi sadly. "How he made you as a replacement."

"Indeed. However, I never expected her remains to be preserved here, on Earl. And furthermore, I cannot think of any reason why they would be brought here in the first place, and who would possibly attempt to preserve them for three centuries."

"Well, we did preserve the Administar for about as long," smiled Naomi. "Not to mention Mik— Speak of the devil!" she pointed at Miyu's left. Miyu turned her head and saw Mikoto springing out of the forest behind her.

With a loud cry of "Naomi!!", Mikoto raced past Miyu and gave the former leader of Searrs a hug. "Hey, it stinks..." she then declared, turning to the coffin; and her eyes fell on the amulet.

"Ani-ue..."

"Don't. Touch it. Mikoto," commanded Naomi. Miyu, with a single decisive motion, grabbed the amulet and pulled it, breaking the skeleton's fragile neck in the process.

"But... that's Ani-ue's trinket!" protested Mikoto. "It's... the only thing that I..."

"Listen, Mikoto," said Miyu strictly. "When your Ani-ue had such a device, the entity inside it possessed him and made you subservient to it — nearly made you kill your best friend. If you touch it, something bad may happen to you, and to all of us — do you want to lose your will, to strike Naomi when you are not yourself, as you almost did with Mai?"

"Mai..." Mikoto lowered her arms.

"Wow, touching," whispered Naomi.

"She will come back, as will Ani-ue, I promise you that," assured Miyu. "In addition, I must mention that this particular amulet is not the one that belonged to your brother, but another, identical one."

"Why do you think so?" asked Naomi.

"Mikoto, would you be kind to go into the house, please?" requested Miyu. "Dinner awaits you th—" she didn't even manage to finish the sentence before the girl ran away as swiftly as she appeared.

"Let's take a walk to the terminal," suggested Naomi. "Anywhere, just away from her."

* * *

"So, a Precursor from before they declared Earl off limits?" said Naomi, walking down a narrow path to the lake behind Miyu. "Now _that_ just bugs me."

"Why, Miss?"

"Why, you say? An advanced race that had enslaved Earth for thousands of years flees this planet, and I say 'flees' because they wouldn't leave that one behind if they left it at their own discretion. And if there is something here that even the Precursors feared, it's _definitely_ bad news for us puny Earthlings."

Naomi paused for a few seconds.

"Although it's not what troubles me most. We thought we cut Greer's renegades off from Earl. Not the case, it seems. And if any part of Searrs was to survive my big screwup, that would be them. I believe I don't have to explain what _that_ can entail?"

"So far," said Miyu, "I have not encountered any evidence of surviving Searrs personnel, with the exception of Sylvia Permando — who has not taken any of our technology with her."

"Well, her... although, taken or not, she knows where to look for it. And the Aswad, they've probably found a truckload of it back in Black Valley. Hopefully no nanomachines at least, itwould be the worst news of all. Worse than the loss of the Foundation itself, even."

"In that case," replied Miyu, "I would propose allying with Himeno, as the lesser of the evils. With our support, the scattered technology can be reassembled in Windbloom, which—"

"—will then be immediately invaded again by one of its neighbors," finished Naomi. "A really wise plan to ensure world domination for someone we don't want. For now, send the contract rules to Windbloom as we agreed, and that'll be it, until we can be sure that the political climate there is stable enough. Just do it covertly."

"I thought you wanted to appear to Himeno in person?" asked Miyu.

"Change of plans. I have a Precursor to interrogate. Give me the amulet and join me in the lab when you're done — if I don't find an artificial host for it, I'm going to let it take me."

"You were against it," reminded Miyu.

"Well, what choice do I have?" asked Naomi. "It's me or Mikoto, and you don't want to mess with a type zero HiME, _especially _one controlled by a Precursor."

"Understood, Miss," said Miyu, handing the amulet to Naomi. "My detour will not take long."

As the android stepped into the water, preparing to swim to the Fuka Academy replica at the other end of the lake, Naomi started walking away from the shore. However, after a few steps, she turned back. "And while we're at it, Miyu," she added, "sink the terminal."

"Now," she said quietly, going back to the house, "if only Ryoko doesn't do the stupidest thing that can be done in this situation, everything will hopefully turn out fine..."

* * *

"So, how is she, Doctor Meebey?" inquired Ryoko, turning away from the unconscious Haru lying in a hospital bed, and to a bald, bearded, aging man in a white coat.

"Her life signs are stable," said Meebey. "Luckily, the blood sample you provided was AB, and I could separate the plasma with nanomachines to make it possible to make a universal—"

"For crying out loud, Doctor, just give me a short version and I'll write it in my report. How long will it take?"

"I expect the nanomachines to fully replicate in her body in about three days," said the man. "Presumably, she will remain in this state until then."

"Three days..." whispered Ryoko. "Just like that time..."

_To be continued..._


End file.
